Secret Training Session
by Nakashima Taiki
Summary: A simple task got more and more complicated....  Is it really a simple task at all?
1. Chapter 1

_DISCLAIMER: Slam Dunk and all its characters belongs to Takehiko Inoue, I am just borrowing them for a while here..._

* * *

CHAPTER 1  
_Perfect Mismatch_

It was a hot summer's day as it had been for the past few days. Removing his eyeglasses to wipe off the sweat off his face, Kogure looked outside the classroom window. Blurred scenery greeted him, overwhelmed by the midday brightness. He rubbed his eyes and replaced the eyeglasses.

"Ok! Class dismissed!" the teacher said, breaking Kogure's reverie.

He then proceeded to put his things inside his bag, glancing once more at the document coach Anzai had asked him to produce.

"I guess this will be a long afternoon...," he said to himself.

* * *

By the time he arrived at the school gym, it was already bustling with activity. The sound of basketballs bouncing off hardwood floor and boisterous laughter radiated from the gym, providing a sense of relief to him. 

Kogure stared at the players doing their warm-up exercises. Mitsui and Rukawa, already finished with their warm-up, sat on the benches, both asleep. Sakuragi was discussing something loudly with Miyagi. As usual, Sakuragi was causing trouble for the other players, but Kogure was in no mood to intervene.

"Sempai!" a female voice said, as someone tapped his shoulder.

"Ayako..." he said as he turned around.

Ayako's cheerful smile turned into a concerned frown. "Kogure-sempai, is something wrong? You seem to be out of it."

"Iie," he replied, managing to smile a little, "nandemonai desu."

"Hontou desu ka?" she asked, trying to see beyond his eyeglasses.

Kogure replied with a smile, "Hai... hontou desu."

Ayako did not believe what her sempai said, but she thought that Kogure is worried about something, but also thought that it would be futile to ask him more about it.

"By the way, Kogure-sempai, what's that document in your hand for?" Ayako asked, referring, of course, to the document Kogure was holding.

Kogure straightened and faced Ayako.

"You would know that soon enough" he said, "But before that..."

Ayako raised her eyebrow.

"I'd better move it," he continued, "Akagi is going to arrive any minute now..."

Ayako followed her sempai with her eyes until he disappeared into the locker room.

"What's wrong with him?" Ayako muttered to herself.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the other side of the gym, Sakuragi and Miyagi were already practicing free throws. Miyagi had just made an attempt at one when Sakuragi suddenly elbowed him. 

"**ITAI!**" Miyagi exclaimed. "**THAT'S CHEATING Y'KNOW!**"

"**OH YEAH?!**" Sakuragi replied, "You already made your shot when I elbowed you... Besides, I am already leading, why should I cheat at this point?"

Miyagi looked at Sakuragi and prepared himself for a fistfight. However, Sakuragi's face turned serious when he looked at the direction of the gates.

"Ok, ok... What is it about?" Miyagi dropped the subject as he noticed that Sakuragi was not in the mood for an argument.

"Look..." Sakuragi said as he pointed towards Ayako and Kogure.

Miyagi turned to see what Sakuragi was pointing to. "Now what about them...?" Miyagi asked Sakuragi.

"Are you blind?" Sakuragi said, in his most mocking tone, "Megane-kun and your Aya-chan are getting too close."

"C'mon..." Miyagi shrugged off the observation, "This is Kogure-sempai we are talking about. He is just not interested in girls, let alone my Aya-chan."

"What makes you think that?" Sakuragi's reply reverberated thru Miyagi's brain.

Miyagi had always regarded Kogure as someone who is very much occupied with something else to go after girls. Besides, Kogure knew that Miyagi liked Ayako, and so would not take any steps that would endanger the well-being of the team.

"I don't think Kogure-sempai would do that... Besides, he is too geeky for her" Miyagi said, almost to himself.

"If you say so..." Sakuragi said.

Miyagi saw Kogure walk off towards the locker room with Ayako still standing there, looking at Kogure.

"By the way, the score's 10-5" he continued.

"OI!! The score is 7-5!!" Miyagi yelled.

"Yeah, but that was before you blanked out like that" Sakuragi said, grinning.

"**WHY YOU?!?! CHEATER!!!**"Miyagi snarled as he started to chase Sakuragi.

* * *

"ASSEMBLE!!!!" a growl echoed through the gym, signaling the start of another grueling practice session. Almost immediately, the players lined up in front of their captain. Kogure took his place beside Akagi, still holding the document, while Ayako sat on the benches. 

"Uus!" Akagi bowed upon seeing Anzai-sensei enter the gym, the others did the same.

The old man just smiled and sat beside Ayako, placing a heavy bag on his other side. Kogure then handed the document to the coach. He browsed the document and stood up.

"Ok... Akagi, Rukawa, Miyagi, Mitsui and Sakuragi form one team. Kogure, Kakuta, Shiozaki, Yasuda and the others, you form another."

"Oi... oi... Oyaji..." Sakuragi said as he dribbled Anzai-sensei's chin, "Are you sure about this? I could easily defeat Megane-kun's team all by myself you know?"

Kogure sighed, while the other benchwarmers gave each other a worried look. They all knew too well that they did not stand a chance against the starting five.

They were too surprised at what their coach said that even Akagi forgot to give Sakuragi a gori-punch.

"Anou... Anzai-sensei, I'd hate to admit this, but Sakuragi has a point..." Akagi said, giving Kogure a worried look.

The old man smiled, "I'm giving you fifteen minutes to prepare...," he said, ignoring Sakuragi and Akagi's objections. The coach then turned to Ayako, "You'll be the referee for this game."

Ayako never had doubts about their coach's wisdom, not until now. "But... Sensei... The result of this game is obvious..." she tried to reason out.

"Thanks for the concern, Ayako," Kogure said, "but, we are not as useless as we may seem to be..." Kogure looked into the worried faces of the benchwarmers, "Right?"

They were worried, but convinced themselves that their vice-captain was right. "Yes..." Yasuda nodded, the others quickly followed his lead.

"C'mon then," he said to them, "we still have to devise our strategy."

With that, Kogure led the others to one side of the gym.

"I kind of feel bad for them..." Mitsui said.

"Yeah..." Miyagi and Sakuragi said together. "I almost don't feel like playing seriously right now," Miyagi continued.

"Baka..." Akagi said solemnly, "You'd be insulting Kogure if you would just let him off easily"


	2. Chapter 2

_DISCLAIMER: Slam Dunk and all its characters belongs to Takehiko Inoue, I am just borrowing them for a while here..._

* * *

CHAPTER 2  
_Well-Intentioned Madness_

Youhei, Ookutsu, Noma and Takamiya arrived just in time to see the final preparations for the practice game. Ayako already positioned herself near the center of the court, with the ball on her one hand. The opposing teams were already in their respective benches. Kogure talking to the other benchwarmers, polishing their game plan.

"Wow..." Youhei exclaimed, "It seems that we have a rare kind of match-up here..."

"Yeah" Ookustu said as the Sakuragi gundan made themselves comfortable near the court sidelines.

"I can't believe the old man made a match-up like this..." Noma said as his eyes alternated between the two teams.

The coach just laughed. "Youhei-kun, would you mind scoring this game for us?"

"No, I would not mind..." Youhei replied, "But, isn't this game a bit of a mismatch all the way?"

"Ho ho ho ho ho..." Anzai-sensei laughed, "We won't know unless we try..."

Anzai-sensei took something from the bag on his side. It was a video camera. He gave it to Takamiya.

"Please video the benchwarmers..." the coach said to Takamiya.

"**WHAT?**" the Sakuragi gundan exclaimed.

Youhei then realized what the coach was trying to do. He looked at Takamiya and gave him a signal to follow what the coach had asked him to do.

The coach then produced two more video cameras. "Please help him" he told Noma and Ootsu. The two took the cameras, though unsure of what this is all about.

* * *

Shiozaki, Yasuda, and Kakuta looked at each other barely believing everything that has happened. Kogure's voice hummed in the background, not even minding if the other players are listening to him. 

_"I must do this... Or I would not have the face to come back here tomorrow... or ever..." _Kogure thought.

He cleared his throat. This made the others pay attention to the reality facing them.

"Guys, I know that you are scared. This is just normal" he told his teammates, "however, we should not forget: We are reserves. We should be ready to go to the court and play at anytime..."

"But..." Ishii croaked, not really wanting to interrupt his sempai's speech.

"But what?"

"Isn't this too much?" the first year asked, "I mean, all of us here are reserves..."

Ishii fidgeted, "I mean... Maybe one or two being subbed out of the starting five would be fine... but ..."

"Remember that we are already going into the Inter-High..." Kogure interrupted the other person wearing glasses, "Things are not going to be as easy from now on. Each game is going to be nastier than any other game we have been into, and we must be prepared for the worst..."

The other players then remembered about that player rumored to injure star players, that Morishige person. A sense of unease dawned upon them.

"There is a possibility, no matter how small..." he continued gravely, "that the entire starting five need to be subbed out."

The other players then realized what Kogure had in mind.

* * *

Sakuragi had a difficult time trying to digest Akagi's game plan. His eyes shifted from one object to another, barely keeping his attention on one thing for more than two milliseconds. Then he caught sight of his coach handing video cameras to members of his gundan. 

"Oi... oi..." Sakuragi elbowed Mitsui, "The old man is planning on recording the tensai's moves on video!"

"**WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP?** I am trying to listen here you baka!" Mitsui irritably said as he tried his best to pay attention to Akagi.

Rukawa pointed his fingers to the direction of the gundan, "The dou'ahou has a point..."

Shocked at hearing Rukawa agree with Sakuragi, Mitsui turned to look in the direction Rukawa is pointing to.

He saw Mito near the scoreboard, and the rest of the gundan talking to the coach, each holding a video camera.

"**WHAT... WHAT THE BLEEP **" Mitsui exclaimed, making the others look also.

"**WILL YOU PAY ATTENTION?**" Akagi bellowed and gave Sakuragi, Rukawa and Mitsui a not so well earned gori-punch, one each.

"B-but," Sakuragi tried to reason out to Akagi.

Rukawa calmly pointed towards the gundan.

Akagi reluctantly looked at the gundan. He was shocked at what he had seen. He had almost blurted out a profanity when he saw Mitsui grinning, inadvertently showing off his off-white denture.

"Now, what the hell is happening here...?" Akagi muttered almost inaudibly to himself.


	3. Chapter 3

_DISCLAIMER: Slam Dunk and all its characters belongs to Takehiko Inoue, I am just borrowing them for a while here..._

* * *

CHAPTER 3  
_Starting Reserves_

Ayako stood in the center of court, ball in hand and whistle in mouth. Youhei seemed calm and poised near the scoreboard, while the rest of the gundan positioned themselves around the court, each trying to outdo each other in providing the coach the best record of the game.

The benchwarmers seemed psyched up to begin the game, while the starting five seemed at a loss as to what is happening. The two teams faced off in the center of the court.

"Ok guys, you know what to do" Ayako said to them.

Kakuta stepped forward for the benchwarmer team, and Akagi stepped forward for the starting five team. The two men faced each other. Kakuta, with determination in his eyes faced Akagi, who seemed to be out of it.

"Ne... Youhei-kun" Haruko asked, "What's happening here?"

"I don't know exactly what is happening either," Youhei said, "but Anzai-sensei had pitted the benchwarmers against the starting five."

"**WHAT?**" Haruko could not believe what Youhei had just said.

"I could not believe it either."

The sound of the ball bouncing off the ball and the sound of basketball shoes skidding against the hardwood floor brought Haruko and Youhei's attention back to the court.

"It seems that it has already begun" Youhei said as he flipped the scoreboard: 2-0 for the benchwarmer team.

* * *

"Nice shot, Kogure-sempai" Kakuta said as he ran to the opposite court. 

"Nahh... it was all because of your play, Kakuta-kun" Kogure replied.

The benchwarmer team prepared for defense. They knew that the starting five team would take them lightly, and they wanted to make the best use of that, while they can.

"Guys, you already know the plan!" Kogure shouted to his teammates.

Even before they fully got into position, the starting five team is already upon them.

"Whatever plans you may have," Rukawa said as he whizzed past Kogure, "I won't let you succeed."

"Oh, really?" Kogure said as he managed to snatch the ball just as Rukawa went past him.

In one smooth movement, Kogure twisted and passed the ball to Yasuda.

Yasuda passed the ball to Shiozaki, but Shiozaki could not get past Mitsui's guard, and so he passed the ball to Ishii.

Sakuragi's stared at Ishii, making him lose his composure. He had almost got the ball stolen, had it not been intercepted in time by Kogure.

He poised himself, preparing himself for a jump shot. However, Rukawa is faster than he is. Rukawa is determined to block any shot Kogure would make.

"_I expected that..."_ Kogure smirked.

"**NO YOU WON'T!**" Sakuragi shouted as he rushed to stop Kogure from making a jump shot.

"**BAKA!** Don't leave your mark!" Akagi growled as he was forced to mark both Ishii and Kakuta.

"Too bad there's no cure for stupidity..." Rukawa muttered under his breath.

"**WHAT DID YOU SAY DUMB KITSUNE?!**" Sakuragi growled at Rukawa.

The two exchanged glares, much to the annoyance of Akagi and their other teammates.

Seeing that Rukawa and Sakuragi, the two people who are supposed to be marking him now, are distracted, Kogure took his chances. He bended his knees held the ball close to it, his whole body arched as if protecting the ball. In the same flowing motion, he jumped, raised his arms and released the ball.

"It seems that you are not too old to play basketball decently" Rukawa told Kogure.

"**SAKURAGI! REBOUND!**" Akagi growled as he followed the ball's trajectory.

Sakuragi need not be told what to do. He immediately went near the basket and effectively cut Ishii's chances of getting the rebound.

Kakuta seemed at a loss of what to do. He had no chances of getting the rebound, especially with Akagi marking him. However, Kakuta saw Kogure smiling at him, a different kind of smile. He immediately knew what to do.

"Nah... I'm not about to retire yet" the eyeglasses-wearing senior said to Rukawa.

In a flash, Kakuta got behind Akagi, intercepted the ball, and dunked it into the ring.

"I will not retire yet..." Kogure said to Rukawa.

"_Not until I see my dream become a reality_"

* * *

"**ALLEY-OOP BY KAKUTA -- KAKUTA SCORES!**" Takamiya shouted and jumped, almost making him lose his grip on the camera. 

"**TRAITOR!**" Sakuragi snarled at Takamiya, kicking him at the shin. Takamiya winced, fell to the ground, and screamed in pain.

"**BAKERO! Will you focus even this once?**" a familiar growl rang thru Sakuragi's ears. It was Akagi, 'whispering' at him, the even more familiar gori-punch came in soon afterwards.

Akagi then proceeded to drag Sakuragi halfway across the court.

"**HAHAHAHAHAHA!**Now, that is what I call a Kodak moment! Good thing I captured it on camera!" Takamiya laughed, his pain already forgotten.

Another resounding laughter, a higher-pitched one, came from the second floor.

"Yeah!! Besides, it's the first time I've seen a ball being kicked without it flying off!" the voice said.

"**Will you shut up Noma?!**" Takamiya snarled at his companion upstairs.

Youhei laughed at the entire exchange while making another flip of the scoreboard: 4-0 for the benchwarmer team.


End file.
